Sur
by pacientecero
Summary: AU. After a dance related injury, Brittany gets an unexpected present from her parents: a ticket to Argentina. Her friend Quinn convinces her to go, and ends up going with her. Once in Argentina, Brittany meets the mysterious Santana Lopez… and her crazy family.
1. Chapter 1

It happened in the morning. One moment she was flying, her form was all sorts of perfect; her face was stoic as the music played on. The next moment, her sleepy and hung-over partner missed a beat, didn't catch her on time and she landed on her extended arm. Something snapped and she was in pain. What happened next were a blur of panicked dancers that milled around her, and the calm but clearly concerned sound of her teacher's voice as she called an ambulance. She landed in an unknown hospital, her parents showed up, and then there was a surgery and its post-op, funny pills and crazy pajamas that her mom picked for her.

She guessed, considering that the standard recovery period for her injury lasts about three months, that it had happened at the least terrible possible time. She was finished with her second year at Juilliard and she was going to have some free time to do her rehab, hang out with her family, and eat some junk food. What she didn't expect was for her parents to so very enthusiastically ship her off to another country.

She was sitting in her room at her parent's house in Brooklyn with Quinn Fabray, who'd been her best friend ever since high school cheerleading had brought them together. Quinn's a drama major at NYU, and she was telling her about some major drama that had gone on between her loud and tiny roommate and the roommate's unnaturally tall boyfriend. It was pretty ridiculous stuff, which involved grown people expressing their true feelings for each other through heartfelt renditions of 80s hit songs, but since she'd been cooped up in her house for almost a month after being released from the hospital, she'd take any gossip she could get. Quinn was getting to the juicy part of her roommate's very musical love life when they heard the distinct voice of Freya Pierce say "Annie, go tell your sister and Quinn to come down to dinner". After which they immediately heard Annie yell, "Britt and Quinn, dinner!" Quinn got up, offered Brittany a hand and quipped, "Such strong, healthy lungs she's developing," as she got up Brittany answered, "Yeah, her screaming terrifies Lord Tubbs, I think he's plotting to murder her." They both exited the room and headed downstairs.

They got to the kitchen where Freya and Annie were setting the table as they argued about Annie's shouting. Freya noticed the girls, she made a gesture for them to take a seat at the table and without warning shouted, "Mike, everyone is at the table now!" Annie rolled her eyes at her mother and asked her "Pray tell, mother, where do you suppose I picked up this little habit you find so annoying?" Everyone laughed as they sat at the table and Mike Pierce, Brittany's dad, showed up and asked what the giggles were all about.

The Pierces were all tall, blonde and just generally happy people; they each had their own brand of quirky humor. The parents were all slapstick style situations and embarrassing sappiness, Annie was in her rebellious teen phase, and was fluent in sarcasm, while Brittany would just randomly spew out the end product of the strange but somewhat brilliant connections her brain made. And Quinn, who was already part of the family and was also tall and blonde, had more of a know-it-all with an edge type of charm to her. They had come to be "the Pierces" after Mike Pierce, a young electrical engineer from the US, had gone to Copenhagen to visit some distant family and had fallen in love with a dancer called Freya, he managed to get her to marry him, and he whisked her away to live with him in Brooklyn, New York. After a while, they had Brittany and later Annie. Quinn just came along one day after cheer practice and never left. And there they all sat, eating dinner one Thursday in the summer time.

About half way into dinner, Mike cleared his throat and said to his wife "Honey, I think it's time to tell her." Brittany shifted her look between her parents for a few seconds and asked, "Tell who what?" "Whom," Quinn softly corrected. Brittany looked at her, smiled and shrugged. Then Freya started, "Britt, your daddy, your sister and I have got you a present" she extended a folded paper across the table and offered it to Brittany, who took it and opened it. Quinn leaned closer to Brittany so that she could also read it. Freya started again, "We have been thinking that it might be time for you to see the world a little bit, and now seems like the perfect time to do it, with the injury and summer vacation." Brittany sat frozen on the spot, she couldn't make sense of the writing on the papers, it was clearly an itinerary, and a plane ticket, but she had no idea what any of it had to do with her. "Aa-argen-tina?" she asked in a shaky voice, "You're sending me to Africa? What's in Africa? I never did give my name that lady from the Peace Corps, how did she find me?" Mike looked at his daughter with a soft smile on his face and spoke, "Argentina is in South America, Bee, and we think a trip would be nice for you…" Quinn suddenly looked up "I think she's thinking of Algeria, that one is in Africa!" she interjected. Freya thought she'd try a different approach, "Bee, you're always in here, you don't even try to take a walk around the block; you might be depressed, for all we know… I mean you've been wearing that rainbow onesie for three days straight now!" she finished. "You got them for me! And excuse me for trying to be a cozy bicorn while my arm gets better!" Brittany snapped, clearly offended. Annie who had been watching the exchange and was just calmly sitting down with a knowing smirk decided to intervene before anyone had a conniption, "Will everyone just chill? I mean, Mom, you should show our Britt here some sympathy…" Brittany looked at her mom with a smug expression but Annie pointed at her and said "and you, no, don't look at her like that, Princess Dorito dust, and don't be a baby, we're trying to do something nice for you. Argentina seems like a lot of fun, plus your room is starting to look like it could be featured in an episode of Hoarders. You should go, or else I will." Quinn chose that moment to speak up, "Well, I think it's a great idea! I mean, think about it, there's tango, and Spanish, and I heard the food is great over there," she enthused. Brittany looked at Quinn and said, "Okay, I'll go, but only if you'll come with". Quinn just gave her a smirk and Brittany could already see the gears turning in her friend's head. This was going to be a very well planned trip.

After a small talk with her rich dad, Quinn got the money to pay for her trip to Argentina. Brittany was still wary of going somewhere so far and so different, and the fact that she barely remembered her high school Spanish classes wasn't helping her anxiety, but Quinn seemed to be on top of it all, and that gave her some confidence that it wasn't all going to be a disaster. After some clothes shopping, and a lot of strategic packing to get everything to fit in her gigantic backpack Brittany was ready. It was the 25th of June and Quinn showed up at her house very early, to get a ride to the airport with Brittany's parents. They both said goodbye to Annie at the door of the Pierces' home. Brittany's sister was sleepy and grumpy but she still hugged her and wished her a safe flight, and told her not to fall in love and get married over there, like her mom did, because that would just be overplayed and clichéd. Then she threatened to cut Quinn's balls off if anything happened to either of them. Quinn glared at her and then hugged her anyways, told her she'd miss her too. They got into the car and left, as Annie waved at them from the doorway.

When they got to JFK, Quinn went into efficient flyer mode and Brittany just followed. Brittany's parents said teary eyed goodbyes and gave a thousand recommendations to each of them at the gates. They had arranged that Brittany would do her rehab exercises on her own, and get checkups at a hospital in Buenos Aires. After they had promised Freya to Skype with her at least three times a week and Freya had promised to feed Lord Tubbington and keep him off the streets, Brittany and Quinn left to go through security. Once they were done with all the airport bureaucratic procedures, they found their gate and sat down to wait until they were called to board. While they waited, Brittany realized she had that effervescent feeling in her stomach; that same one she always got when she was waiting on the wings, ready to go dance onstage. She loved the feeling. All the very best things in her life had started with that feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

The flight was long. Quinn was reading a book, it's title was "Hopscotch". She kept going back and forth and seemed to skip entire chunks of pages only to go back to the very beginning. Brittany wondered what the hell that was all about, but didn't bother to ask Quinn, since her friend had her "reading face" on and Brittany knew that it'd take her at least five or six tries to get her attention.

Brittany's attention, on the other hand, was all over the place. She watched one of the in-flight entertainment tv series while she listened to the "silly songs" playlist on her iPhone. Then she pulled a packet of Skittles out of her carry on backpack and started to carefully arrange the sweets to form a rainbow on the little fold out table. After she had, quite literally, tasted the rainbow she pulled her headphones off, got comfortable in her seat and tried to catch some sleep. She failed to do so, but she did find a kid two seats to the right and they made faces at eachother for a while. When the kid got caught and was scolded by his mom, Brittany got up to stretch her legs and promptly got scolded herself, by a stewardess, for moonwalking the length of the aisle and bumping into the food cart. She returned to her seat and silently sulked for a while.

Quinn kept reading until the stewardess showed up to hand them some very unappealing food. Quinn stared at her chicken sandwich, as if it were a ticking time bomb she had to somehow manage to deactivate.

After they were done with what Quinn had declared "could hardly be called lunch," they both watched the same movie, a made for tv rom-com. All the while they mocked the lead's overly dramatic antics and made comments about what they would do if they were in the same situation. After that movie was over, they started a second one. About half way through, Quinn fell asleep and Brittany just daydreamed.

Quinn woke up about an hour before they were supposed to land, when the stewardess showed up and gave them some snacks. After the lady left, Brittany looked at Quinn with a smile, "You know, I've been thinking, Q, and I'm so glad that we are doing this together," she said. "This is going to be so much fun, Britt, just wait and see," said Quinn as she shook off the last remainders of sleep with a yawn, then launched into an enthusiastic revision of the plans they had made for their trip.

By the time the plane had touched down on the runway at the airport Brittany was so ready to finally arrive to this country, that, as soon as the seatbelt lights were off, she stood up, grabbed Quinn by the elbow and, simultaneously tried to get their backpacks from the overhead compartment. The stewardess who had caught her dancing in the aisle before shot her a stern look, so she slowed down and whispered a guilty sounding "Sorry." Quinn, who had been watching the exchange, laughed at her all the way to baggage claim.

When the two blondes were done going through customs, they found themselves standing at one of the exits, staring into the cold, foggy nothingness that surrounds Ezeiza Airport at 11pm in the winter. They both took a deep breath, each trying to guess what they would find after the fog had cleared, and the day had come. That lasted until Quinn snapped out of it, because a man who was standing beside her, kept persistently asking her something. Brittany heard Quinn reply "Si, por favor," that one was easy, she thought, it means "Yes, please." The man left them and said something in spitfire Spanish into a radio speaker.

After a minute, a taxi showed up, the man from before returned and ushered the blondes into it as he threw their huge backpacks in the taxi's trunk. Quinn said, "Gracias" and gave the guy a few pesos. Then she turned to the taxi driver, handed him a paper and said, "Llévanos a esa dirección, por favor". The driver nodded "Muy bien, señorita," he answered and started driving.

Brittany hadn't slept on the flight, so she was starting to doze off in the backseat of the car as it speedily glided through the empty highway that connects Ezeiza and the city of Buenos Aires. Quinn took her hand in her own as if to reasure her, so Brittany finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She was woken up about half an hour later by the feel of Quinn's hand squeezing her own and her friend's voice softly saying, "Britt, you have to see this". Brittany opened her eyes and looked out the car window, and she caught her first glimpse of Buenos Aires. She read the name of the street they were at,"Entre Ríos" she repeated it out loud to herself, as if she were trying the language on for size. The buildings were a mix of old and new, short and tall, and it would seem like every block was a collage of different architectures and time periods. At one point Quinn pointed out her window and said "Oh, look at that one, I think that's the National Congress building." It was a huge palace with one of those bronze domes that've gone green overtime and a very imposing sculpture of a chariot. "Oh, we have to go back there some day," Brittany said.

They kept looking at the streets and the buildings until they arrived at the door of the hostel that Quinn had reserved for them. It was one of those small french style buildings that were so prevalent in Recoleta, the neighborhood they had chosen to stay checked in and went straight to bed. They fell asleep instantly even though there was a rather loud party going on in the rooftop of the hostel.

In the morning, they could see everything more clearly. And the hostel, which had seemed so quaint when they first arrived, looked more and more like what Brittany would have described as "an antique frat house". They shared their room with four other people, the room smelled like feet and booze. There wasn't enough hot water in the showers and by the time Quinn saw roaches in the kitchen during breakfast, Brittany knew that it was their last day there. It was very soon confirmed when Quinn poured herself some coffee, took a sip, winced and declared, "I give up, let's go find a Starbucks."

They left the hostel and found the coffee shop very close by, on Las Heras avenue. While they waited for their order, Quinn went to the restroom. Just after Quinn left, the barista handed Brittany their drinks: Quinn's was just an espresso and she'd got a strawberry frappuccino because, winter be damned, she was in the mood for something fruity. When she turned around to go find a table, she bumped into a rapidly moving mass which, after closer inspection, turned out to be the single most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

The stranger had long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, perfect olive skin, and the fullest, most scrumptious looking lips. Her big brown eyes looked at Brittany, they narrowed and her lips formed into a smirk. She spoke, "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Brittany couldn't find the words to answer the girl. "Well, you seem okay and I didn't make you drop that pink monstrosity you got there, so I'm gonna assume that you are fine," she said. Still, the blonde was stuck, she couldn't formulate a reply. She was hung up on the girl's voice, it was raspy and soulful and she had the most particular accent.

The stranger started again,"Blink once if you are okay, twice if you need an ambulance, three times if..." and that's when Brittany's tongue caught up with her and she blurted, "Pink monstrosity sounds like a really awesome name for a gay punk band." As soon as the words left her lips she felt her cheeks heat up and a sense of dread started to invade her. The blonde expected the gorgeous stranger to mock her or just stare at her in confusion; instead, the girl contemplated Brittany's words, smiled and answered, "Yeah, it does sound pretty cool," she chuckled and said "I gotta go, bye now."

The stranger started walking towards the exit. Brittany noticed that she was wearing a sweatshirt and black tights; then she noticed the stranger's legs and ass in those tights and she was tempted to run after her. As soon as she'd gone out of the shop, the hot stranger stopped and shouted "¡Dale, gordo, movete!" then she started to run. Brittany watched in a daze as a big, hairy dog appeared and ran after the girl.

* * *

Llévanos a esa dirección, por favor: Take us to that address, please

Muy bien, señorita: Very well, miss

¡Dale, gordo, movete!: Come on, fatty, move!


	3. Chapter 3

When Quinn found her, Brittany was standing at the same spot where the encounter with the stranger had happened and she still had a dazed expression on her face. "Britt, we should go find a table," Quinn said. The sound of her friend's voice took Brittany out of her stupor, and she followed her towards one of the free tables in the coffee shop.

They'd been sitting, silently sipping their drinks when Quinn noticed the conflicted expression on her friend's face and asked what it was all about. Brittany frowned "I don't know. I bumped into someone, or I guess she bumped into me, and she was so stunning," she explained. "Oh, so it's a girl that's got you all messed up," Quinn smiled. "Yes, Q, she was the most beautiful girl. But I froze; I couldn't even answer that I was okay when she asked me. And when I did speak, I said the first thing that came to my mind, and she just smiled at me. And her smile was killer, so I obviously froze some more and then she left." Brittany finished with a pout. Quinn seemed to contemplate what her friend had just said "So you spoke to her in Spanish?" she asked. "No, she spoke to me in English from the very beginning. She must have guessed where I'm from" Brittany said. Quinn smiled and said "Well, you are wearing my NYU hoodie, B." Brittany looked down at her chest "In any case, if she lives in this neighborhood, you may bump into her again" Quinn suggested. "Oh, you're right; I think she was out jogging with her dog, so she might be from around here." Brittany concluded and, in her mind, she made a note to return to that same Starbucks the following morning, to see if she could run into the stranger again.

Brittany suddenly remembered that she hadn't let her family know that they had arrived yet. She opened her email account and she saw that she had six new emails, all from her mother. The six had been written in decreasing time intervals between each other and with what seemed like increasing levels of alarm from her mother's part. So she sent her mom an email to let her know that they were okay and told her to call off the "international scale manhunt" that she was trying to get started, and also that Liam Neeson would probably not be available to go rescue them, anyways. She wrote her a short paragraph with her first impressions of the country and sent hugs for the rest of the family. Quinn also took the opportunity to send her own mother a quick email.

When they had both finished their drinks Quinn cleared her throat, "So," she said "I think we should find a better place to stay at. We'll be here for the better part of two months and I can't imagine having to cope with the smell in the room at the hostel for another minute." Brittany silently contemplated her options, she knew that Quinn's mind was made up and she would't mind moving to a nicer place herself, but it was Thursday and she didn't want to spend the whole weekend looking. So she said "Well, I think that we should take our time and find someplace really nice. We can give ourselves a week's time and take it easy during the weekend. Does that sound okay?" Quinn thought about what her friend had just suggested for a small while and ended up agreeing to slow down and wait, for the sake of their first weekend. Yet, only an instant later, she grabbed her phone and started searching for rooms on every rentals website she knew of.

They left the coffee shop and walked around the area. As Quinn had pointed out, they were just behind the National Library, so they went and saw that. It was a strange looking building, and Quinn gazed at it with a fascination that Brittany wouldn't understand until weeks later, when she'd get to see the inside of the Teatro Colón. Anyways, her friend explained with a wistful smile that this was the new library building. That she'd read that a former director of the Library, and one of the country's most celebrated authors, who at the time of the inauguration was going blind, had seen the building for the first time through his foggy eyes and had declared that it looked like a sewing machine. Upon looking at the building for a second time Brittany thought that the comparison made perfect sense.

Then they visited the "Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes", or the National Fine Arts Museum. Then they went to see the building of the Law school of the University of Buenos Aires, which was very close to the museum. The university building was huge, and its front had the tallest columns and stairs with hundreds of steps. Brittany challenged Quinn to a race up the stairs. Quinn declined the challenge, so Brittany just ran circles around her on their way up. They wandered inside the school, walked around for a bit and decided to sit in on a class where an old man gave a lecture to a sleepy group of students. Quinn and Brittany couldn't understand much of what was being said, but from the cadence of the man's voice and his intonation, they did understand why some of the kids at the back of the class had fallen asleep in their seats.

They'd busted out of the school laughing after the professor had tried to ask Brittany a question and she'd had to answer, in the best Spanish she could muster, that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. When they realized it was way past lunch time, they walked towards Plaza Francia and ate at a place called Café Victoria. After lunch they just walked around the neighborhood some more and went back to the hostel. In the evening they ordered pizza and beer with some of the other people who were also staying at the hostel. They chatted with some of them. When they realized it was already 1am, they went to bed.

As she drifted to sleep, Brittany thought about all that she had seen that day, and she realized that the part of it all that was the most vivid in her memory, was the encounter with the girl at the coffee shop. She always seemed to be able to remember the things that had sent her into sensory overload best, and this girl had caused her senses to have some very strong reactions.

The next morning, Brittany dragged Quinn out of bed and convinced her to go back to the Starbucks they'd been to the previous morning. When they were on their way, Quinn told her that she knew that Brittany had no interest in coffee and just wanted to see the mysterious hot girl again. Brittany didn't deny it; she just made Quinn walk faster. They got to the shop, bought their drinks, sat down and waited, but the stranger never showed up.

Brittany didn't let that dampen her spirits. The girls left the coffee shop, and walked the length of Alvear Avenue, until they reached Carlos Pellegrini Square, saw the French Embassy building. And then they walked up 9 de Julio Avenue until they reached the Teatro Colón. Brittany decided to practice her Spanish by going to the box office and asking for the dates and times of the ballet functions and the price of the tickets. She thought she did rather well, even though it took her a few tries to find the right words. She left the theater thinking that she just couldn't wait to go see the dancers there.

They ate lunch at a small restaurant around that area. Then they walked to the Obelisco. Brittany thought it looked like a smaller version of the Washington Monument, and she already thought that one was about the least exciting monument there ever was. She was not impressed. After the Obelisco, they walked Corrientes Avenue. When their feet started to hurt, they just took a bus back to the hostel.

There was a party in the hostel's back patio. One of the hostel's employees was barbequing hamburgers and "chorizos", a sort of fatty pork sausage. As soon as Quinn tried a choripan, a chorizo in a bun, she declared that she was obsessed with it, and that it might even be the new bacon. Then she retracted her statement, and re-swore her allegiance to bacon, but still maintained that chorizos were easily top five material.

The girls ate, had a few beers, and went to sleep despite the protests of some of the boys they had met the night before that the fun was only just beginning. At their room, before they fell asleep, Quinn said, "No luck on the new place yet, Britt, I've been looking but there's nothing." Brittany answered, "Don't worry, we've only just begun. And you need to promise that you are going to leave that aside tomorrow and have some fun." Quinn sighed, "The people are nice here, but I kind of want a room that doesn't smell like a high school boys' locker room, and some privacy would be nice too" she complained. "I don't know about that, but I do know that tomorrow night we are going out and and that's final," said Brittany in a firm yet playful tone.

When they woke up on Saturday, Quinn hadn't even tried to argue against it, and had let her friend lead them to the usual Starbucks. They sat in silence for a while. Quinn swiped her phone's screen furiously and Brittany stared intently at the door. Quinn had finally broken the silence to ask her friend how her arm was doing. Brittany shrugged and answered that her arm was fine, and that she had physical therapy scheduled for Monday morning. She didn't like to have to think about the injury; no dancer ever likes to think about their injuries. Once again, the hot stranger was a no show.

It was sunny and not cold at all, so they decided to go to a park nearby, Parque Las Heras, and just spend time there read a bit and do some people watching. After they got tired of the park, they ate lunch at a café and went back to the hostel. They found the guys they had met two days before, two Colombians, one Chilean and one Australian, who were joined by two girls from France while they had a few beers in the patio. They joined them too. The Colombians invited them all to a party in Palermo. Brittany and Quinn looked at each other, then back at the guys and Quinn said, "Sure, why not?"

When they thought it was time to start getting ready to go out, Quinn and Brittany went upstairs, showered, changed their clothes and did their makeup. Surprisingly, when they went back down, the guys and girls were exactly where they'd left them. About four hours more passed, and it was 2am when they finally left for Palermo.

The booming bass could be heard from a distance. The party was at what seemed like a hybrid between a bar and a house. They rang the bell and someone on the second floor terrace stuck their head out a small window and asked who they were, one of the Colombians answered and they were let in. The Colombians explained that a British guy had rented the house and he'd started throwing parties and that his friends would show up to them with their friends, and then those people would bring new people. When the parties had got so big that he could no longer afford to buy the booze for everyone, he'd just started selling it.

The drinks were cheap, so they drunk a lot. Brittany danced with everyone. She'd missed dancing just because and not having to follow an elaborate choreography. They stayed at the house party until 4.30am, when most people decided to go to a club a few blocks away. So they followed them and kept dancing and drinking.

When they left the club it was daytime and they were all drunk and exhausted. Only one of the Colombians and the Chilean had stayed with them. They started walking in the direction of a bus stop. They'd walked a couple of blocks when Quinn slurred, "Stop! Do you guys smell that?" and she just started walking faster in the same direction. The other three walked behind her until she came to a stop. She was standing in front of a small shop that sold gigantic burgers.

After they'd eaten their burgers they took a taxi back to the hostel. Once in their room, the girls were surprised to find that none of their roommates were in bed yet. They started changing into their pjs. When they were done, Quinn, who was still considerably shitfaced, started sniffling. "Oh, no, Quinnie, are you weepy drunk right now?" asked a slightly more sober Brittany from her bed. "No, I'm just…" said Quinn as she started riffling through a pile of stuff on the floor of the room. "Aha! I found the smelly fuckers!" she exclaimed as she held up a pair of sneakers. She then proceeded to open the window and throw them out into the street. She went to bed with a satisfied grin plastered on her face. Brittany closed her eyes and thought about the girl at the Starbucks, she wished that she could find her once more.

On Sunday they got up after midday. Quinn was hung over but decided to power through it. And Brittany was anxious that she had abandoned her post at the Starbucks that morning. But in the end, she figured it was very likely that the stranger had also slept in that day.

They went to the artisans fair in the Recoleta. They were walking around Plaza Francia when Brittany saw a paper sign taped to a signpost. It said "Rooms in Recoleta". And then it listed some of the details of the rooms. There seemed to be no problem with them. So she called Quinn over. Her grumpy friend peered over the dark glasses she was wearing and looked at the sign disdainfully. She said that it sounded too good to be true, that she didn't intend on being trafficked; she then turned and walked away. Brittany ripped one of the small papers with a phone number in them and went after Quinn.

After they'd eaten a late lunch, Brittany told a more pliant Quinn that she had the number for the rooms and that she thought they should just call it. Quinn agreed and dialed it. Brittany listened as Quinn said, "Hola, llamo por las habitaciones para rentar en Recoleta" and then her friend let out a breath and said "You speak English! Okay, yes, we only need the two. We're two girls and we'd each be staying in one room" Quinn paused and smiled "Sure, we'd like to see them as soon as possible. Yes, three pm works for us, see you tomorrow, bye." She turned to Brittany and said, "We have to go see the rooms tomorrow at three. She'll text me the address. She seemed like a really nice older lady." Brittany smiled, "Awesome" she said. Quinn's phone vibrated in her hand "Oh, there is the address" she said looking at her phone, "That's really close by." Brittany was excited; she stretched her arms behind her back and declared, "I have a good feeling about this one."

* * *

Hola, llamo por las habitaciones para rentar en Recoleta: Hello, i'm calling about the rooms for rent in Recoleta


	4. Chapter 4

On Monday they went to the usual Starbucks for breakfast before Brittany's physical therapy appointment. Quinn had insisted on going to it with her, at least for the first time. By the time they had to go to the appointment, there were no signs of the hot stranger.

Brittany got her physical therapy done fast and without any trouble. She was happy that she seemed to be recovering well, that her arm wasn't in any pain, and that her physical therapist had been really nice to her, so she was feeling optimistic.

After a quick lunch they found themselves standing at the front door of the address the lady had texted them the day before. It was on a cobblestone street named Galileo. Recoleta had, since long ago, been the neighborhood where the richest families in Buenos Aires had lived. And the area that they were in, seemed to be particularly old and wealthy.

The place looked like it'd been there for a long time, and was very well kept. It wasn't a tall building, maybe six or seven stories tall. The front door was tall and wide and made from dark wood which had intricate carvings of flowers. Brittany thought it was very pretty, as she ran her fingers along the lines of the carvings. "We are fifteen minutes early, should we ring the bell anyways?" asked Quinn. "I don't know. Is it rude if we do? Isn't it like, "siesta" time?" Brittany asked in return. "Well, siestas are for the old and the idle, I think," answered a deep, raspy voice behind them. Her accent was thick, but melodic. When they turned to see where the voice had come from, they were met with the sight of an impeccably dressed woman carrying a pile of folders in her arms. The woman was short and slim and had perfectly straight, shoulder length, light brown hair. Brittany thought she must have been in her mid-sixties, and that she was a very beautiful, elegant lady.

Her blue eyes looked cordially at the girls; she smiled and said "Well, I'm going to guess that you are the girls who called me yesterday about the rooms" Quinn and Brittany nodded. Then she continued speaking "I realize when we previously spoke that I didn't even give you my name; I'm Nina." Quinn and Brittany smiled at the woman and introduced themselves. "Well, let's go inside" said the older woman as she tried to fish her keys out of her purse.

Nina's apartment covered the ground floor and the first floor of the building. The woman led the two girls past the door and turned the lights on, and then she walked across the room to open the curtains that covered most of the wall. They were standing in a very big living room with a few essential classic style pieces of furniture. In the center of the room there was a chesterfield style leather sofa and armchair set, and a coffee table. In one corner there was a dark wood liquor cabinet. The wall on the opposite side of the front door, had several glass doors that connected with a back patio. The rest of the walls were almost entirely covered in bookshelves filled to the brim with all shapes, colors and sizes of books. There was even a pile of them by the door, which served as a small table where Nina had placed her keys and the folders she'd been carrying. She said, "Well, this is the living room," then she pointed to the girls' right "Through there are the stairs, my study and a bathroom. Let's go." Brittany and Quinn followed her.

The lady took them straight to the upstairs of the apartment; there was a small corridor with five different doors. Only one, the one that was to the left of the stairs, was closed. Nina pointed to the closed one and said "That's my son's room," She then pointed to the right and said, "My room," And then she walked towards the three doors that were opposite them and said, "The one in the middle is obviously the bathroom, and the other two would be the spare rooms, they are pretty similar. Go ahead and take a look."

The room to the left was inundated with light; it had a closet with white doors and a queen sized bed with a white comforter. The one to the right had a bed the same size, a blue comforter a small dresser; also, one of the walls in the room had a big bookshelf crammed with books. Brittany had liked the luminosity of the first room, and Quinn had obviously been standing in front of the bookshelf, looking at the titles on the book spines longer than she had inspected the actual room, so her preference was clear. The girls looked at each other with knowing smiles; they had found a new place.

They soon left the rooms and joined Nina in the corridor the woman made a gesture for them to follow her down the stairs and said "I'll show you the rest". She took them past the stairs, across the living room. She first showed them a dining room with an antique dining table and chairs, in the back were three china cabinets, filled with things which looked like they'd break if one even so much as breathed near them. Nina made an annoyed gesture and explained "I hardly ever use this room, it's becoming more and more like a museum," and she walked to the opposite side of the room. "Okay, there's just the kitchen left," she said as she opened the door to the room. The girls walked in. The kitchen was big, to a side there was a small table with chairs. It was all very standard except that, in the back of the room, leaning against a counter top by the fridge's opened door, and drinking water directly from a very delicate looking crystal jug, was the stranger that Brittany had been so hoping to find.

The girl was barefoot and was only wearing tights and a sports bra. She was sweaty and her chest heaved as she held the jug to her mouth with two hands and took big gulps of water. Just as the first time she'd seen her, Brittany froze, and time froze with her. She ran her eyes down the girl's body, from her dark hair to her toned shoulders, to the shape of her collarbones; from her amazing boobs to her flat stomach and slim waist; from the hint of her hipbones just above the waistband of her tights, to her slender legs and bare feet. The girl was there, in all her olive skinned glory. And Brittany was, once again, sent into sensory overload.

She'd been staring at a single drop of sweat slowly roll down the stranger's uncovered and toned stomach when Nina's voice brought her world back to its regular speed, "Ah, estás acá. No sabía cuándo ibas a llegar," she said, and then turned to the girls, "That wild thing right there is my granddaughter. She's been staying in her uncle's room, so I hope you girls don't mind sharing a bathroom." Only then, the hot and sweaty stranger looked their way, put the jug back in the fridge narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean by sharing?" And before Nina could reply, the girl started walking towards them as she spoke again in a forced sweet tone, "Could you blondies wait in the dining room for a second, while I have a world with my grandmother, please?" When Brittany didn't move, the stranger looked her in the eyes. Brittany thought she saw a look of recognition reflected in the other girl's eyes, but it only lasted for a second before the girl looked away. After that brief exchange, Quinn grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

Once she was in the dining room Brittany let out in a whisper "Q, that's her! That's the girl from the Starbucks!" Quinn's eyes went wide "No way! Well, she doesn't seem to be very happy with us," she said. Brittany frowned and said "Maybe she needs some time to process it; she seemed surprised that we were here." Just then, the girls heard the voices of the two women talking in the kitchen.

"You taped a paper to a sign post? Are you insane? That's what the internet is for, you screen people and you weed the weirdos out. It could have been a murderer who answered your ad! You could have had your skull broken with one of those etymology dictionaries you love so much! You know those things are heavy enough. But, of course, you managed to find two angelic blondes on your first try." the girl said, clearly irritated. Then there was Nina's voice "Will you keep your voice down?"

After that there was a while during which they couldn't tell what was being said, until the girl raised her voice again, "I'm telling you, abuelita, having more young women around the house is not a viable substitute for your estrogen replacement pills, and they won't make you any younger either," she said sarcastically. "Do not call me that, and don't be crass, they are perfectly nice young girls" Nina answered.

"Well, you've done a great job of whitewashing your living space. You, lady, are a racist," said the girl cheekily. Nina chuckled and answered, "If I weren't so amused, I'd be offended. You are lucky you are my favorite and the only person in the family with a good head over her shoulders, even if you insist on making poor choices lately, like dropping out of college…" The girl interrupted and said, "Oh, no, we're not having that conversation again…" After that, Brittany and Quinn couldn't hear much of what was being said.

Finally the girl's voice piped up again, "Okay, okay, they can stay, but they are on probation. At the first Miley Cyrus song I hear, they are out of here." Nina let out a small laugh "I'm not even going to pretend to know what you are talking about, Santana."

Santana, Brittany thought. Her name is Santana.

* * *

Ah, estás acá. No sabía cuándo ibas a llegar: Oh, you're here. I didn't know when you were going to arrive.


	5. Chapter 5

Nina called the girls back into the kitchen. The first thing Brittany saw when she walked in was Santana. She was leaning against the counter, her arms were folded over her chest and she looked bored, she even let out a long sigh. She looked at Quinn, skimmed over her. Then her eyes landed on Brittany and suddenly, the brunette didn't seem so disinterested. Brittany looked her in the eye, but couldn't hold the other girl's dark gaze; she kept looking away and then again into those brown eyes. They were pulling her in, making her feel magnetized.

The staring contest was broken by Nina's voice "Okay, girls, it's time for formal introductions." Santana took a few steps forward and stood in front of the girls. Nina gestured in the direction of her granddaughter, "This is Santana Lopez, the freeloading, college dropout daughter of my daughter," and then she pointed at the girls. Quinn quickly supplied "I'm Quinn Fabray" Then she nudged Brittany, who was standing right beside her and said "This is my friend Brittany Pierce." Santana, who'd been scowling at her grandmother's introduction, softened her expression when she saw that Brittany was smiling at her. Then the blonde extended her hand, and Santana took it and shook it softly.

Brittany thought the hand that she was holding was unlike all others she'd ever held in hers. As soon as they came into contact, goose bumps were climbing their way up her right arm and the tips of her ears were heating up; she let go of the breath she was holding in her lungs and couldn't seem to inhale again, her chest still felt full. She was a dancer, and she was very in touch with her own body, but that reaction had been completely new to her.

She'd been curiously looking down at their hands when she felt the other girl loosen her grasp and withdraw her hand. She looked up to meet brown eyes watching her, searching. Whatever that was, Brittany was pretty sure it hadn't only happened to her.

Santana seemed to realize the staring was starting to be weird, so she looked in Quinn's direction and offered her hand to the girl, who shook it with a polite smile.

"Right," Nina said, "you girls are from?" Quinn quickly answered "New York City." Nina smiled, surprised, "Santana is from New York too," she explained. "Oh, really?" Brittany asked hurriedly. Santana looked at her and nodded "Queens," she said. Brittany smiled excitedly and exclaimed, "I love Queens!" and then she started listing all the parks, restaurants and sites that she enjoyed visiting in that borough. Santana looked at her with a muddled yet amused expression in her face.

Brittany was amazed that she'd not only found the stranger again, but also that she was being able to carry a conversation with the woman. The brunette didn't seem to mind Brittany's rambled and hyper recounts; on the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying them, and even made a few comments of agreement here and there. Every time Santana spoke, Brittany could only focus on her lips, and the way they moved, the shapes they made when she was forming this or that word. Santana had amazing lips. Well, if Brittany was being honest, everything about Santana was amazing, but in the back of her brain, she was making an enormous effort not to look at the rest of the girl's barely clothed body.

All the while, Nina and Quinn had started talking about the more bureaucratic aspects of the rental. At some point, Quinn called Brittany's attention to that conversation and Santana took the opportunity to excuse herself and go upstairs to take a shower. Before leaving, she smirked at Brittany, "Well, it's been nice meeting you," she said, "Twice."

Twice, she'd said they'd met twice. Brittany was completely shocked by the brunette's admission. She remembered her. She remembered their first meeting. And that was a very flirty way of relaying that information. Santana had flirted with her, she was sure of it. Brittany felt like she needed to do a fist pump or a celebratory dance, but Nina and Quinn were being serious and business-like and she felt like she needed to be involved in that conversation.

It turned out that Nina was renting the rooms very cheap, since she didn't really need the money and she was only looking for the company and, in her words, "the life that only young and active people bring into a home." Brittany suspected there was more to it than just that, but didn't inquire any further.

When they were about to finalize the deal, and Brittany could see Quinn already planning the most efficient way to move their things from the hostel to the apartment, Nina was stopped by a realization "Oh, wait, you have to meet one last someone, before you can say yes," having said that, she moved on to the living room and the girls followed. Once in the room, she opened one of the doors that connected with the back patio and immediately, a huge dog walked in the room. It was hairy and dark. Brittany remembered she had seen it with Santana when she first saw her at the Starbucks. Quinn seemed to also remember that the stranger had a dog, and they both looked at each other knowingly.

"This is Cerbero, he doesn't really live here; he is just visiting. But if any of you are allergic, or just hate gigantic hairy dogs, he is going to be here for the better part of this week, so take that into account," Nina explained. Brittany took a few steps forward and dropped to her knees in front of the dog, who sniffed her face and let out a few excited cries as the blonde petted his massive head, "Well, I think he is a good boy," she said. Quinn smiled at her friend's behavior and said "I have no problem with him. What breed is he?" She asked. Nina considered it for a moment, "We call them Terranova, but I think you might know them as Newfoundland," she answered. Brittany at that point had stood back up and was playing with the dog's ears "So where does he really live then? You said he's only visiting…" she asked. Nina smiled and answered "Well, he lives in the countryside, he helps with the cattle. He's a very good worker, but since he's my favorite, I bring him here with me sometimes."

By then the dog, who had already sniffed both of the new girls properly, unceremoniously headed out of the room and toward the stairs. "He's obsessed with Santana, the poor fool…" Nina absentmindedly commented, as if thinking out loud. Quinn looked at Brittany with a teasing smile. Brittany smiled and rolled her eyes at her friend.

After they were done signing a few papers for Nina, the girls left the apartment and went to the hostel. Brittany could feel how anxious Quinn was to move on from there, so she didn't even try to suggest they took it easy. While they packed, Brittany had told Quinn all about her interaction with Santana and the fact that the girl had remembered their first encounter. Quinn had agreed that it did sound like Santana had been flirting, but Brittany still wasn't sure what that could mean. They were packed and ready in less than fifteen minutes.

They carried their backpacks to the lobby and left them there as they went into the kitchen to find all of the people they had met over the past few days. They were lounging around drinking beer just like they'd been the previous day and the day before that one. They were only in the kitchen and not the back patio because it had been slightly colder than the previous day. Brittany thought they didn't really know what cold was, and that they'd probably never survive a winter in New York.

Then Brittany felt a pang of sadness at the thought of leaving the guys; they were fun and always so relaxed. But when Quinn announced that they were leaving, one of the Colombians, whose name was Diego, insisted they'd just have to come back on the weekends and go out with them. Both of them agreed and Diego gave Quinn his number. After that, Brittany no longer felt sad, she realized they could always see them again, they'd be there, drinking beer and being loud and happy.

They grabbed their baggage and walked over to the apartment, they'd both decided that it was too close by to take a cab. During the whole walk Brittany teased Quinn about Diego, and in turn Quinn teased Brittany about Santana.

They rang the bell at the apartment on Galileo Street and Nina buzzed them up. When she opened the door she gave them each an air kiss and a set of keys and explained that she was leaving, because she was already thirty minutes late to a coffee date with a friend, and they should get settled and make themselves at home. With that, she left and a dense cloud of French perfume followed her.

The girls hauled their huge backpacks up the stairs and each left theirs in their room. Brittany soon went into Quinn's room and found the girl neatly folding her clothes and putting them in the dresser. Brittany flopped onto the bed and asked, "So, what are we going to do today?" Quinn looked at her friend and answered "Well, it's already past five, so I thought we could go and do some grocery shopping and then just stay here, do nothing." Brittany said she liked the idea and added that she'd Skype her mom after dinner.

When Quinn was done with her clothes, they went out and got some food. Quinn wanted to make spaghetti and Brittany just got some cereal and some candies that she'd never seen before. She wanted to try new things, and she figured candy wasn't a bad place to start at.

When they got home, Quinn went upstairs to her room and started a new book. Brittany changed into some sweats and a sweatshirt and grabbed her iPod. She felt like dancing, so she went to the patio, put her ear buds on and hit play.

She'd been dancing for a while and she was completely into it, unaware of anything else in the world. She was improvising some moves to Robyn's "Call your Girlfriend" when Cerbero walked into her field of vision. She looked to the door to see if she'd left it open and she saw Santana leaning against the doorframe looking at her with a pleased smile. She was wearing skinny jeans and an oversized knitted sweatshirt that fell off of one of her shoulders, her hair was loose and wavy. Once more, she was barefoot. The way she looked made Brittany wonder what it would feel like to hold her in her arms.

Brittany pulled out her ear buds and said a slightly embarrassed "Hi." Santana was still smiling and she said "Well, I'd love to know what song it is that can make you dance like that. I mean, the way you move…" she trailed off as she looked Brittany's body up and down. The blonde felt her cheeks heat up "Thanks, though it was just silly dancing. If my professors at school saw me, they'd have me suspended," she said. "No, don't downplay it, it was great. You are like, a genius at that," the brunette replied. At that point Brittany was sure Santana was flirting again, so she smiled bashfully.

Just at that moment, Quinn showed up and announced that she was going to start cooking dinner. She said hi to Santana and asked her if she wanted to eat some spaghetti with them. Santana smiled and declined the offer because it was a bit too early for her, and then gave some explanation about how "porteños" do everything late. With that, she headed back upstairs and the blondes went to the kitchen. Cerbero stayed in the patio and settled in his bed for a nap.

As she cut the tomatoes for the spaghetti sauce, Brittany thought about her encounters with Santana. She'd felt overpowered by her reactions to the girl. She wasn't too concerned about always being in control. In most situations, she'd just rather flow than try to twist things to fit her preference, but these had been no ordinary situations. She was usually good at reading people, but the girl seemed to flirt and flee and it disconcerted Brittany. In the end though, all she could know for sure was that she wanted more. She wanted to know her, to spend time with her, to feel her closer. She knew it was soon to be having those thoughts, but she had figured she'd rather just feel her feelings than worry about what they might mean.

The food turned out pretty delicious, though Brittany couldn't take credit for it, since her involvement with the preparation had been limited to dicing tomatoes. It wasn't that she was lazy; it's just that she found recipes confusing. Quinn on the other hand, was a great recipe follower and she excelled in anything Italian.

They headed upstairs and Brittany Skyped her mom and sister on her phone. Her mother scolded her for not Skyping her any sooner, and her sister recited a list of articles that Brittany needed to bring her back as gifts. At some point, Quinn walked in and said hi. They told Freja and Annie about the places they'd been to and about the move. Her mother figured there was something she wasn't telling them when she couldn't hold in her smile as she talked about their new place, and that was when Brittany decided the conversation needed to be over, before Quinn had the chance something to embarrass her or give her away. They said their goodbyes and Quinn left to read in her room.

Brittany went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and washed her face. While in there, music started playing in Santana's room. She couldn't recognize the song or most of the words but she knew it was in Spanish. She went back in her room and got into her bed.

She'd been lying on her back for a small while. She could still listen to the music coming from Santana's room. It made her think of the brunette. She began feeling that steady fizzy feeling that started in her chest and pushed down and made her tummy feel like it was being filled with a steady current of delicious electricity. Only this time, the feeling didn't settle there, it went lower and pooled between her legs, where it could find no release. Brittany shifted her hips a couple of times, frustrated.

She started thinking of Santana's lips when she spoke, and her particular accent coupled with the rasp of her voice. She imagined the sound of Santana's voice right by her ear. She imagined her until she could almost feel the weight of the girl above her. She pictured the expanses of her naked skin in the faint light that came in through the sides of the closed curtains on the window. There was a bluish tint to the girl's hair in that light. She could almost feel the warmth, and almost hear the dirty things Santana said to entice her, to invite her to touch; to touch Santana or to touch herself. She squeezed her eyes shut as pulses of heat rushed between her legs and she could feel herself get wet. Her legs spread wider and twitched in anticipation.

The image of the dark haired girl lingered. The blonde kept it first in her mind as she reached her right hand down and squeezed the inside of her thigh desperately. She tried to resist the urge to touch herself at first. It felt weird to do it with the girl she was thinking about in the next room. But she couldn't help it much longer and she slipped her hand inside her shorts and started to spread the wetness that she found there. She touched herself slowly, with long languid movements. When she finally let herself hit her clit, she let out a hiss. She was slippery and overly sensitive already.

It came to her in takes, like a movie montage: Santana's lips by her ear whispering sweetly devilish things; Santana's teeth biting her neck. Brittany's own hands reaching forward, roughly touching everywhere they could find. Santana's lips again, this time a moan escaped from them. Her left hand squeezing an ass cheek; her right hand that finds the clit of the girl on top of her, who starts to move in the most hypnotizing rhythm, accompanied by the faint sound of the music coming from the room that was just two doors over.

She couldn't form a more integral picture of it. It only added to her frustration, made her rub her clit faster, made her tense up more, desperately chasing her release. She used her left hand to squeeze her breasts and tease her nipples; she imagined Santana's mouth biting her there. After that, all she wanted to see was the other girl's face. So she imagined her, beautiful and terrible above her, her lips swollen and her eyes so dark; right in the eye of the storm, frozen as her climax hit her. And that did it for Brittany, who silently felt herself tense up and spasm, the ghost of the other girl's darkened eyes never leaving her mind.

It felt incredibly good to let out all that pent up energy, and the blonde felt slightly sweaty but completely relaxed under the thick comforter of her new bed. She'd come hard and she felt satisfied, but there had been something strange about the level of frustration she had just experienced. It was as if her body was telling her that her imagination wouldn't be enough. All of those things she had thought, she needed to actually experience in reality, because she was sure that if she ever did, then nothing would compare.

She sighed, rolled onto her side, and tried to clear her mind. Sleep found her soon enough. And her mind was clear and settled. The last thing she saw, in stark focus, were Santana's stormy eyes looking back at her.

* * *

Hai, guys. If you want to know what song Santana is playing that Brittany also listens to, look up "En remolinos" by Soda Stereo, it's pretty trippy.


	6. Chapter 6

Brittany woke up early in the morning. Quinn had surely stayed up reading until late, because when Brittany went to check on her, she was buried under her comforter and the only thing that could be heard in the room were her faint snores. Brittany had automatically thought about waking her friend and dragging her to their usual Starbucks, but she quickly realized there was no point in that anymore; the stranger had been found, not only that, but the stranger currently resided under the same roof as her. That last thought made a surge of nervous energy curse up and down her spine. She was ready to see Santana again.

But there was no such luck. She did find Nina in the kitchen, though; she was drinking coffee and reading a newspaper, muttering in Spanish, clearly displeased with the news, whatever they might have been. When she saw Brittany walk in, she smiled softly and said "Buen día. You are up early." Brittany smiled in turn and offered her own "Buen día," and she explained that she'd fallen asleep way too early, and she felt like she had too much energy. She then headed towards the cupboard that she had stored all her new cereals in the day before, and she fixed herself a bowl. She sat at the table, ate a spoonful and immediately realized that it tasted exactly like regular corn flakes. So maybe cereal was universal.

When she looked up, Nina's clear blue eyes were boring into her pensively. The older woman quickly softened her gaze and asked "So, Brittany, what is it you do back in New York?" Brittany tried to answer, but soon discovered that her mouth was full. She chewed quickly and told Nina that she was a dance student. The woman promptly asked what type of dance she did and seemed very satisfied when Brittany told her that she did mostly classical at school, but that she liked modern styles also. "You know, I have a box at the theatre that's just been gathering dust for a long time now. You girls should make use of it, go to the ballet." Nina offered. Brittany gave the woman a huge smile, thanked her and told her they would love to. After that, Nina went back to her paper.

Brittany took her time to examine the woman more closely, she didn't look very much like Santana in the most obvious physical aspects but there was a familiar self-assuredness and ease in the way they carried themselves which Brittany thought they both shared. She kept wondering about Nina: she seemed jovial yet her eyes revealed a deep disappointment, which seemed to ail her like an old wound that wouldn't heal. Brittany frowned as she imagined what could possibly have happened to the woman in front of her to make her so hurt but also so in tune with her own pain. There had surely been a tragedy in her past, but there was also infinite resignation.

"You are too young to frown so much, dear." Nina said as she looked at the younger girl from the side of her eye. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Brittany quickly replied, "So what do you do?" Nina smiled and pondered the question for a while until finally she answered "Well, I'm a glorified professor now, but I used to be an essayist and a translator." Nina looked at the watch on her wrist "Oh, look at that: Ya voy a llegar tarde. Hasta luego, Brittany." And with that, she left the room.

Soon after that, Quinn showed up in the kitchen already dressed and ready to go. She poured herself a cup of coffee, and informed Brittany that their plan for the day was to go to the neighborhood of San Telmo. Once they'd both had breakfast, they headed out.

Brittany thought San Telmo was beautiful, and a strange mixture of old buildings, colorful graffiti, antique shops and little fashion and design boutiques. She stopped at a little shop and bought a very old photograph of two smiling young girls at the beach, wearing old timey bathing suits. On the bottom of the picture an inscription read "Mar del Plata". She wasn't very sure why she bought the picture, but when she was a child she'd been very interested in time travel. Back then, any time that she saw an old photo, she'd take a moment to examine the faces, see if she could find someone who looked like a time traveler. By the time she stopped believing she'd find the travelers, she'd developed a fondness for black and white pictures, and the many distant stories they told.

Quinn had wanted to buy about ten different pieces of furniture and Brittany had had to remind her, in every occasion, that Quinn's apartment was in a whole different country and that she was pretty sure that they wouldn't be able to fit a Louis XV chair in their backpacks. Quinn would pout and move on to the next thing.

They'd had lunch in the San Telmo market, surrounded by the colorful fruit and vegetable stands that were inside. When they were done with lunch, they'd headed towards Puerto Madero, a part of the city that used to be a port, but looked more like a rich residential neighborhood. They crossed a bridge and headed towards a famous fountain that Quinn said was, supposedly, a must-see.

Once they got there, Brittany agreed, the fountain was worthy of a visit. It wasn't big or very imposing; there was nothing about it very monumental. But the figures sculpted into the stone had been shaped with such grace that they were mesmerizing. The girls stood for a long time and contemplated the sculptures of mythical women whose legs turned into fins. Brittany thought that if such creatures existed, they would have been able to move in the water in such beautiful ways. The thought made her want to dance.

When their feet got tired of walking, they returned to the apartment in Galileo Street. They had an early dinner and they watched a movie in Quinn's room before they said goodnight and Brittany went to sleep in her own bed. That night she could also hear the sound of music coming from Santana's room. She sighed and closed her eyes, and soon she fell asleep thinking that she hadn't seen Santana's face at all that day. In the middle of the night, the noise from Santana's door opening and closing had woken her. She heard steps that headed down the stairs, the faint click of the front door being closed.

The next morning she woke up, got showered and dressed, and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Nina and Quinn were already there and they were having a very spirited conversation about a book. They both spoke so enthusiastically fast and with a strange mixture of English and Spanish words that Brittany thought that's what Alice must have felt, when she had tea with the Mad Hatter. She grabbed her bowl of cereal and sat at the table, to observe the women. They seemed to be very pleased to have found somebody to fight over literary analysis with. Brittany decided she'd never understand those types.

Once the great breakfast debate was over, Quinn said they were going to La Boca, Nina smiled, told them to go to the Quinquela Martín museum, and left, announcing that she was running ten minutes late already.

La Boca was a lower class neighborhood right by the Rio de la Plata shore; it was both colorful and melancholic. Everywhere they went there were allusions to tango and Brittany was itching to see the dance live already. They finally found a couple dancing in the middle of Caminito. They watched for a long time. Brittany informed Quinn that she wasn't going to leave the country without learning how to tango. Quinn just smiled and said, "Me neither." They walked around some more, had lunch and went to the museum that Nina had spoken about earlier.

When they got home in the afternoon, Brittany changed into sweats and went to the patio o dance for a bit. Cerbero had been happy to see her at first, but he hadn't been very interested in her dancing and instead had decided to lie down and roll around in a flower bed.

After dancing she went upstairs to take a shower. She'd seen from the hallway that the door to Santana's room was ajar and the lights were off. She'd guessed the brunette wasn't home, and she felt slightly disappointed in that. After her shower, she'd gone downstairs. Quinn and her made a simple salad and sat down to eat.

"Britt," Quinn called from her place at the table, "why do you have the same face that you had the time when you thought Lord Tubbs had relapsed?" Brittany exhaled slowly before she answered, "I don't know. It's just that I found the girl and I live two doors down from her, but it feels like she's an even bigger mystery now than she was before." Quinn smiled "Well, have you tried to talk to her?" she asked. Brittany shook her head "No, I haven't had the chance, she's never around, and I think she doesn't sleep at night. She might be a vampire, and not the sparkly kind," she finished with a frown. Quinn laughed "Well, the Brittany S. Pierce I know eats sexy vampires for breakfast. Why don't you just talk to her the next time you see her?" she told her friend. Brittany just nodded and kept eating.

Quinn was right, if Santana was so elusive, she'd have to be at her most charming at every chance that she had. It had been decided then and there that she'd seize any and every opportunity she got. No more being an overwhelmed mess, no more casual pleasantness; it was time to flirt the pants off of the beautiful latina, who was also possibly the sexiest vampire ever. She went to bed that night with a new found sense of determination.

When she woke up extra early that morning, she felt energized and proactive. She hurried downstairs to the kitchen in her pajamas, her hair in a messy bun, to get some breakfast. Instead of her usual cereal, she grabbed a sweet called an "alfajor" and she made herself some tea. She was sitting down at the table, waiting for her tea to cool down a bit, with her chin rested on her left hand, when Santana walked into the kitchen. She seemed like she was in a hurry. She was wearing a tight little black dress, a leather jacket on top of it, and incredibly tall heels. She was also wearing some pretty dramatic eye makeup and her lips had the most enticing gloss to them. Brittany's mind was reeling at the sight, as all the memories from what she'd done to herself two nights ago, while thinking about Santana, flooded her mind and collided with the current version of the girl, so dangerously clad in leather.

Santana, on the contrary, didn't notice that there was someone else in the kitchen with her. She kept angrily saying things like "No puedo creer esto" and "¿Quién carajo me manda a mi a meterme?" and there were a few emphasized "Puta madre" and "Pelotudo" repeated here and there. Brittany didn't know all of the words that were being said, but the ones she knew weren't too friendly.

The enraged girl walked to the fridge and tried to take her jacket off, but something stopped her movements and she let out a pained hiss. Brittany decided to make her presence known "Are you okay there?" Santana turned to look at Brittany and said "Yes, I'm fine," but she kept struggling with the jacket. Brittany got up, went towards Santana and placed her right hand on the other girl's shoulder. Santana stopped moving and looked Brittany in the eye. The blonde swallowed, "Here, let me help you," she said with a small smile. The brunette said nothing but she let Brittany do what she'd offered.

While she helped, Brittany noticed that in heels Santana was the same height as her and that the closeness meant that she could smell the brunette's perfume, it smelled like spices and sandalwood, and like sweet flowers. Being at eye level was completely exhilarating, and she took the time to inspect the girls long eyelashes, her perfect skin, the way her lips twitched when she finally removed her left arm from the jacket's sleeve. But she also caught an out of focus flash of red and purple, which made her switch her attention to Santana's left hand. Her thin yet strong looking hand had bloodied and bruised knuckles.

Brittany couldn't hold the question in her mind and she asked "What happened to you?" in a worried tone. Santana looked at her face and then contemplated her own hand and answered "I had to punch someone," and then she looked back at Brittany and gave her a resigned shrug. Without thinking, Brittany grabbed the other girl's hand to get a closer look and concluded "Well, no shit. Let me get you some ice." Santana tensed up when Brittany grabbed her hand, but she seemed to relax when she heard the other girl's concerned tone.

Brittany quickly grabbed some ice and put it in a dish towel. She offered it to Santana, "Here. Do you think it'll be okay? Do you need a doctor?" she asked. Santana made eye contact with her and very softly answered "No, I don't think it's broken, don't worry." Brittany eyed the girl carefully, she seemed to be okay; there were no other noticeable bruises or cuts on her. It looked like it was true that she had just punched someone.

Curiosity got the best of Brittany and even though she didn't want to seem nosy or too eager in front of the brunette, she asked, "So, why did you have to punch someone?" Santana huffed and answered in an irritated tone "There was this guy at the club that I work at. He was a total douche and he was all over a girl who was really drunk, but really drunk, like beyond all power of discernment," she said and looked at Brittany in the eye, to check if she was being understood. Brittany gave her small nod, so the dark haired girl continued talking, "At some point I saw that he was trying to get out of the club and he was taking the girl with him. She could hardly walk on her own. So I went and got in his face about it. He was sort of drunk, so he swung at me. He missed and I landed a nice punch right to his nose. After that little exchange, the bouncers came and threw him out."

Brittany was impressed with Santana, and also pretty aroused by her sheer badassery. "Wow, I bet you were like the Batman or something." Brittany commented with wide eyes. Santana chuckled and said "No, blondie, I wasn't trying to be a hero. I just defended myself." But Brittany saw right through Santana's disaffected tone and she'd heard the concern in her voice when she spoke about the drunken girl before. Santana had wanted to help. That information made the blonde feel an inexplicable sense of pride, even though she barely even knew Santana.

"Well, I'm going to bed," the brunette announced "Thanks for this" she said as she held up her injured arm wrapped in the dish towel filled with ice. Brittany went back to her tea and her alfajor, which turned out to be delicious.

That day, as soon as Quinn went down for breakfast it started raining. Nina let Cerbero in the house and the girls decided that they'd just go walk around Corrientes Avenue. It was a nice and quiet day. They sat at a café and had hot chocolate and churros with dulce de leche while they watched people walk by, shielded beneath their umbrellas. That night Santana was locked inside her room and, as usual, Brittany could hear the sound of music that filtered from the brunette's room as she drifted off to sleep.

On Friday Brittany woke up to find that Quinn had a cold, and it was still raining. Their plans for the day were officially cancelled. She got up, went to buy some Ibuprofen and soup for her friend, and after that, she just sat in the kitchen and played a game on her phone. By lunch time she was so bored that she'd actually managed to cook herself some food that was edible.

Brittany had been in the kitchen practicing what steps she remembered from the tango dancers she'd seen at La Boca, when Santana walked in. The brunette looked way more casual than the last time Brittany had seen her, she was wearing loose ripped jeans and a band t-shirt and her hair was down. "Oh, you're here?" she said, surprised. "Yeah, Quinn is sick and it's raining, so…" Brittany trailed off, so Santana interjected "So you were tangoing alone in the kitchen? You must be so bored." The blonde shrugged, Santana continued "Well, I'm going to take Bero out for a walk now that it's not raining, if you want to come with us…" Brittany smiled and immediately accepted the offer.

Brittany hastily went upstairs, checked on Quinn, who was sleeping, grabbed a colorful sweater from her room and rushed downstairs. Santana had thrown on her leather jacket and had put a very eager Cerbero in a leash. Brittany smiled at the other girl as they stepped out of the apartment.

Once they were outside, and they'd started walking towards a nearby park, Brittany realized that they'd been mostly silent, and that she needed to talk to the girl and get to know her, but she struggled to come up with that very first question to break the silence and get a conversation started. Soon enough, they were at the park.

They stood in the middle of a large grassy part. Santana looked around and the dog had just patiently sat down at her feet, and was panting steadily, his huge tongue hanging out of his mouth. Brittany was confused "So, you don't let him off his leash?" she asked. Santana very seriously answered "I need to make sure that he can be let out first. He's on probation." Brittany frowned and replied "I can't imagine that he started a fight with another dog, he's so chill." Santana looked at Brittany in the eye "He's not on probation for fighting. Last week he tried to get with an old lady's poodle. The woman was horrified." she explained. Brittany started laughing at the image of the huge dog coupled with a poodle. "Seriously, it was the most embarrassing thing ever. That dog has no standards, I swear." Santana said with a scowl.

Brittany was chuckling at Santana's mortified tone, she looked at the girl and said "I think that the coast is clear, you can let him off now." "Why are you on his side?" Santana asked with a teasing smile "I'll tell you what, if he chases another dog down, you're the one who's breaking them apart," she finished. Brittany looked Santana in the eye "Deal. And I'm not on anyone's side. It's just… He's a lover, not a fighter, I can relate to that." she said jokingly. Santana maintained their eye contact almost challengingly. Brittany had found her in. She bent down and unhooked the dog's leash from his collar never breaking eye contact.

Cerbero had just run around in circles and they'd found a bench, sat down and watched him silently at first. But Brittany was on a mission to get to know the other girl. "How is your hand doing?" she asked. "Well, it looks disgusting, but it doesn't hurt much," the brunette answered. Brittany let out a puff of air and said "You are lucky, injuries are the worst." Santana smiled and looked her in the eye when she replied "Yes, I imagine that they must be, for a dancer."

"How did you know I'm a dancer?" Brittany asked. Santana smiled even wider "Every time that I see you, you're dancing and your body… is definitely a dancer's body," she told the other girl, who couldn't help but blush. Brittany recovered quickly, though and asked, "So what is it that you do, apart from saving drunken girls in clubs?" Santana shook her head and said "I didn't save her. I'm just a bartender."

Brittany remembered that Nina had complained that Santana had dropped out of college, and felt the urge to ask about that. Santana seemed a bit taken aback when Brittany asked her that question, but quickly recovered and said "Well, leave it to my grandmother to tell everyone how much of a disappointment I am." Brittany opened her mouth to excuse herself but Santana cut her off "Don't worry about it. I dropped out because California wasn't for me," she said.

Brittany was confused, "Wait, didn't you say you were from Queens?" she asked. "Yes, I was born and raised in Queens, but then I wanted to get very far away from home, so I went to school in California," the brunette explained. After that, Santana seemed to open up and to show interest in knowing about Brittany too.

Santana told Brittany about her father, who was a doctor; about her paternal grandmother, who was Puerto Rican and mainly a devoted catholic; about how they had raised her. Brittany learned that Santana hadn't met Nina until she was twelve years old, and a whole other side of her world and her heritage had opened up to her. Brittany noticed that Santana didn't speak about her mother. She did speak about her uncle Juan, and told Brittany that if she wanted to learn how to tango, he was the guy to go to. Brittany of course accepted enthusiastically, and they made plans to go see him sometime soon.

Brittany told Santana about her parents and sister, about her school and her friendship with Quinn. She told her the story of how her arm injury landed her a ticket to Argentina. It was very easy to talk to Santana. Brittany didn't feel judged or dismissed. She liked the way that the brunette never interrupted her, the way that she read her cues, the way that she laughed in the right places of a story. Brittany was sure that there was something really valuable in that.

They must have stayed at the park for more than an hour, just talking. But it had started to drizzle and it was getting windy, so Santana got up and shouted for the dog to come back to them. Cerbero did, quickly and happily. Brittany felt almost sad to head back home, because it meant that her time with Santana would be over.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Santana's voice "Hey, I don't know about you, but I'm cold and I could really go for a coffee right now," she said and she offered her hand to Brittany, to help her stand up, "Come on, I'll show you a little place that is so much better than Starbucks."

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Buen día: Good day/Good morning

Ya voy a llegar tarde. Hasta luego, Brittany: I'm already going to be late. See you later, Brittany

No puedo creer esto: I can't believe this

¿Quién carajo me manda a mi a meterme?: Why the fuck did i even get involved?

Puta madre: Fuck

Pelotudo: Asshole

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Hey guys, thank you for the reviews, though i'm shy with the replies, they make my heart sing entire operas. Leave me some more?

To the Argentinian who suggested they go to Tigre, i want to say that's a great idea and thanks, it shall be included in their itinerary.

Lastly, if you are ever in Argentina, eat an alfajor and a churro relleno con dulce de leche. You will not regret it.


	7. Chapter 7

They walked to a small café that was close by. It was on a quiet and narrow street, its sidewalks were populated with tall trees. On the front of the café, there was a metal sign that read "La Rambla" in elaborate typography. Santana immediately took a seat at one of the two tables that were outside on the sidewalk, each under an awning which protected them from the drizzle that kept coming down. Brittany took a seat opposite Santana and Cerbero just lied down on a dry part of the floor beside the table.

Brittany suddenly felt anxious. The girl in front of her seemed completely at ease, like she went to that café quite often, but she also acted pretty indifferent towards Brittany's presence there. In order to assuage her nerves, Brittany focused her attention on the inside of the café, which she could partially see from a window. The place was old school, with wooden paneling and gold fixtures. Behind the bar, the bartender methodically dried glasses. The only two people that were seated at the tables were an old lady having tea and a bald middle aged man who was reading the paper. It was the last place in the world that she would have imagined Santana in.

Santana cleared her throat and Brittany noticed that a waiter was standing beside their table, with an inquisitive look on his face. She smiled at him, then looked at Santana and asked "What's good here?" Santana just looked up at the waiter and said "Dos cafés con leche y medialunas, por favor." The waiter just said "Muy bien." and left.

Brittany had a pretty good idea that Santana had just ordered her a coffee with milk. So she looked at her questioningly. Santana just smiled and said "There's nothing particularly good here. That's the whole point. There's a whole culture around cafés in this city. You order something and then you just sit down with someone and talk about anything, or if you are alone, you read. The coffee is an excuse. But still, the stuff here is a million times better than what you usually order, if memory serves me right," she finished jokingly.

Brittany caught Santana's playful jab at her and made a quick decision to have some fun of her own. "Wait," she said in feigned confusion, "how do you know what I usually order?" She saw a flash of panic go through Santana's expression and the girl started to try to save face by awkwardly making excuses as to why she'd guessed Brittany's order. Santana's flustered face was so comically cute to Brittany that she couldn't hold her laughter in.

A bit out of breath and with a huge smile on her face she said, "Don't worry so much. I know how you know my order, I remember that day at the Starbucks. I was only having a little fun. I'm glad I did, the look on your face was priceless." Santana frowned but couldn't hold in her smile "Well, that was mean," she said, and then they both laughed together.

The tension and nerves Brittany had felt before were soon gone, and she decided that maybe the best way to get to the very guarded and cool girl in front of her was by being playful and cheeky and just overwhelmingly open. So when she blurted out that she'd lost her virginity in her neighbor's tree house, but not with her neighbor, she wasn't being random and ditzy, she was making a calculated play to get Santana talking to her.

That all may have seemed too obvious to her, but the other girl's dumbfounded expression told her that she'd need to let Santana in on just what type of game it was that she was playing. "Come on," she said, "now you have to tell me something secret about yourself. It's how the game works."

Santana crossed her arms in front of her chest and said "We are strangers, why would I tell you my secrets? And why would you believe me if I told you any?" Brittany frowned at Santana's reaction but recovered soon, "Well, I think the whole point of telling each other secrets is that we don't know each other. I mean, it's nice to just be able to say these things and not have them weigh on the history you have with another person, because we don't share any history. So go on, stranger," she dared her with a smile.

Santana, as Brittany had accurately guessed, was never one to back out of a dare, so it was no surprise when she said, "Okay I'll play along, but here are the rules. One is no lame secrets, like, just because you haven't told anyone that Khloe is really your favorite Kardashian, it doesn't mean that it's a secret. Two is you can't ask questions, you only get as much information as the other person volunteers." As soon as Santana had finished naming the rules, the waiter showed up with their coffees and some pastries that looked very much like croissants.

Once the waiter was gone, Brittany focused on Santana, "Okay," said the blonde "It's your turn." Santana looked to the side and seemed to ponder her answer for a small while, until finally she looked at Brittany with a serious expression and said, "I can't really parallel park and Queens has four less fire hydrants thanks to me and my dad's shitty, old Cadillac."

Brittany chuckled and immediately after she said "I'm pretty sure I made my sister happen, because when I was five, I stole my mom's birth control and may have misplaced a few of the pills. Anyways, she always says it was a happy accident, because she has a really bad memory for keeping track of those things, but I think it was totally my fault." Santana looked at her with raised eyebrows and an amused smile.

She quickly responded with another secret. "I have been fired from three jobs, so far. The last one was a waitressing job. I got fired because I broke the day manager's hand. He pinched my ass twice, so I figured he deserved it," Santana said and shrugged as if she hadn't given the situation a second thought. Brittany thought that the girl had a tendency to punch assholes who liked to get too handsy. The blonde was usually against any type of violence, but she had to admit that the victims of Santana's rage were all pretty deserving of it.

Brittany suddenly had an idea: she thought she'd bait Santana with a sexy secret and see if the brunette would go along with it and tell one of her own. "I have been naked in a library on five different occasions. And not all of those times were for sex," she said in a mysterious and flirty tone.

Santana's eyebrows shot up and she smirked, "You're making it hard for me to not ask questions, you know?" she said, "I've got one. You know how I told you my Puerto Rican grandma is super religious? Well, when I was a teenager she used to make me go with her to Sunday mass. When I was seventeen I managed to get away from her during a sermon, and I had a quickie with someone in the confessionary. I still don't know how we managed to not get caught."

Brittany smiled and said "Oh, sneaky, I like that…" Santana let out a low laugh, Brittany watched her. She took in the way her eyes narrowed and her cheeks bunched up and a perfect dimple formed in the center of the left one. Her teeth were also pretty much perfect. She thought Santana's smile was adorable, but also seriously hot.

Then she took a sip of her coffee as she tried to come up with something new to say. She thought about telling Santana something important about herself, to make herself vulnerable and see how the other girl reacted. "When I was a kid, I wasn't the most conventional learner and I'd been home schooled up until high school. During my whole first year everyone in school thought I was stupid because I couldn't adjust. I never told my parents how badly I was doing. I just dealt with it; I taught myself how to learn like the rest of the kids. But it made me so sad to have to think like that, it still doesn't make sense to me," Brittany said in a defeated tone.

Santana looked at Brittany with soft eyes. Brittany thought she could see farther into Santana's eyes than ever before. She saw earnestness in them, and compassion and most of all, deep understanding. But then the brunette blinked, and she seemed to blink all those feelings away, and all that Brittany could see in those eyes then was pride and determination.

Santana took a deep breath, "Anyways, here's a big one: I didn't drop out of college, I got kicked out," she said quickly and then she looked down. After that confession, Brittany wanted to ask her a million questions, but rules are rules. So she let it go and she raised her cup of coffee to her lips, while she searched for a secret of her own.

Since Santana was still looking down and seemed more guarded than ever after her most recent revelation, Brittany decided to go the flirty way once more, and see if that could gain back the brunette's attention. "The first time I had an orgasm with someone other than myself, was with a girl who was in my high school cheerleading squad," she started, and Santana quickly looked up and into the blonde's eyes. "Before her I had only ever been with boys, so for a long time after that, I thought only girls could make me come. It wasn't until much later that I found out boys could do it too," Brittany said.

Brittany had hoped that Santana's reaction to her secret would tell her as much as her secret had revealed to Santana. Her strategy had been a success. Santana for the most part, had kept her cool. But the way she'd gripped the arm of the chair that she was sitting in just a bit tighter, and the way her eyes had darkened a few shades and that her mouth had slightly opened, told Brittany that her words had had the effect she'd expected. Santana was interested in her; possibly, also interested in making her come.

What Brittany hadn't expected was for Santana to maintain the eye contact, and then proceed to up the ante with a secret of her own, "The first time I made a girl come," she said, in a low and raspy tone, "I realized it wouldn't matter how many orgasms a boy could give me, there was no way they could be better than what I had just witnessed."

Upon hearing that piece of information, the blonde felt pulses of heat which started at her throat, traveled down her stomach and finally settled between her legs. She felt how the echoes and the vibration of Santana's voice were torturously making their way into her fantasies, filling them with new possibilities. The way Santana kept her eyes on Brittany's maintained a tension between them, which made the blonde's cheeks warm up, her heart speed up and her breath escape her. Brittany couldn't take it for very long and she broke the eye contact and shifted in her seat. She had to admit to herself that Santana had beaten her at her own game.

After that last exchange, it seemed that the game was over. Both girls concentrated on drinking their coffee and eating the pastries. Brittany had wanted to fling herself over the table and kiss Santana's face all over when she'd seen how the brunette had, very casually, held the last piece of her pastry under the table and in front of the dog's face, so that he could have some too. But throwing yourself at a girl you've just met is kind of inappropriate, even if you'd just been doing some pretty hardcore flirting, so Brittany settled for giving her a sweet and ample smile. The smile had seemed to make Santana a bit self-conscious, which had made Brittany want to kiss her even more. She'd found that Santana was really shy about other people noticing her kindness. That feature had made her even more attractive in Brittany's eyes.

Soon they'd left the café and walked back to the apartment. Santana let the dog off his leash and both of the girls went upstairs. They'd parted ways when Brittany had stopped at Quinn's door, with the intention of checking on her friend. Santana had glanced at her, mumbled a brief goodbye and shut herself in her own room once more. She had been indifferent and cool and the exchange had left Brittany thoroughly dissatisfied. She'd wanted a bit more from Santana, at least one single understated gesture that she'd enjoyed the time they'd spent together, but she'd had no such luck. Still, Brittany knew she'd made a connection with the brunette, and that alone was enough to paint a triumphant smile on her face.

Quinn was awake, so Brittany went into her room and sat at the foot of the bed. Quinn looked at her and quickly asked Brittany where she'd been all day. Brittany responded with a very noncommittal "Nowhere, just around," which motivated her friend to throw a pillow at her face and demand to know why the hell se was smiling like that, then. Brittany told Quinn only that she'd been out with Santana, and that she'd tell her more, later. Quinn tried to protest but Brittany just changed the subject.

Once Quinn had fallen asleep again, Brittany left her friend's room and took a shower. She was in her room in just cut off sweats and a t-shirt, drying her hair with a towel, when she realized that Quinn had all their adapters, and that she'd need one if she wanted to charge her phone.

She'd decided against waking her sick friend just to ask for an adapter. So instead she finished with her hair and thought she'd head towards Santana's room, to see if maybe she had one. Her idea wasn't entirely innocent; she wanted to see Santana once more. She could only hope that Santana would feel the same way about seeing her.

As she changed out of her sweats and slipped into dark skinny jeans she thought about how tricky it was to try to read Santana's behavior. She had been restrained and withholding at one moment, and completely overwhelming at the next.

When she got to the brunette's door, the first thing she noticed was the music; it was a different type of music than the nights before, it was some electronic indie thing, which instantly made Brittany's brain itch and her body want to dance. She knocked on Santana's door and waited. She heard movement on the other side of the door. Soon, Santana opened the door. She looked surprised to see Brittany there.

"Um, yes?" Santana asked in a serious tone. Brittany caught her first glimpse of the room behind the girl. It was bigger than hers and the walls seemed to be covered in band posters and strange drawings. The bed was against a wall, it had a red comforter on it. On the left of the bed there was a window, it was wide open.

Brittany switched her attention back to Santana and awkwardly spoke, "Oh, yes, sorry. I was wondering if you have any adapters for a phone charger, that I could maybe borrow?" she said. Santana's expression softened at the request. Brittany was relieved that Santana's guarded and defensive posture had changed so fast.

Santana moved to open her door wider and invited Brittany in. Brittany walked into the room and saw that there was a desk filled with an assortment of stuff haphazardly placed on it, a chair, and above the desk, there were two shelves that were filled with records. On the opposite wall there was a very comfortable looking, yet beaten-up couch. The room had nothing to do with the style of the rest of the house. After she'd looked around for a few long moments Brittany let out an impressed "Wow."

Santana cleared her throat, "It's my uncle's room. He lived in here when he was a teenager in the early 90s, that's why this place looks like it's frozen in time," she said, "Anyways, even though it looks like Nirvana threw up in here, it's roomy and it's got a great vinyl collection."

"I think it's kind of cool," Brittany said with a smile. Santana gave her a tight smile and said "Sit anywhere you want, It's gonna take me a while to find what you asked for in this mess," as she pointed to the desk.

Brittany, who had taken a seat on the couch, looked at Santana, who had her back turned to her and had been rummaging around the desk for a while, "So, what are your plans for tonight?" she casually asked.

Santana kept searching and she answered "No plans. You?" Brittany sighed, "Well, I don't think I'm gonna do anything today. Quinn is sick and I don't feel like going out on my own," she explained with a disappointed pout.

Santana turned around; she had found the adapter and was holding it in her hands. She looked Brittany up and down, taking in the blonde's expression and her casual appearance, "I figured you were staying in. But it's Friday night, you should be making plans, drinking, getting naked in libraries, whatever it is you do…" she said as she handed the adapter to Brittany.

She leaned against the desk as she took a moment and seemed to contemplate something in her mind. Then she spoke again, "Anyways, I'm off work today, and I refuse to go to a club on my day off, I mean I'm at a point where thinking about having to ward off some sweaty douchebag who insists on rubbing up against me on the dance floor gives me PTSD," she said with a disgusted expression and an exaggerated shudder. "So I'm just gonna smoke a bit of pot, play some music and eat some really unhealthy food. You're welcome to join me," she suggested coolly, with an almost practiced ease.

Brittany didn't have to think about it too much. She was far from sleepy or tired, and the music in the room was already making her bounce in her seat. She'd enjoyed smoking pot on several previous occasions, and the thought of spending more time with Santana was exciting, so she just answered her with a happy sounding "Yes, I'd love to get baked and eat junk food with you, sounds fun!"

Santana just laughed at her. When Brittany asked her what was so funny, she just answered "Nothing, it's just that you keep surprising me." Santana had seemed a bit taken off guard by her own admission, which, in turn, had left Brittany with a strange feeling of accomplishment.

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Hi, I have nothing charming to say. Thanks for the reviews. Leave me new reviews?


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